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Thank Crunchy!

I doubt that Giggle and Funk will cite the review of their club which I'm about to write, even though they've done so with this blog in the past here. That's not to say I'm about to slag it off, far from it. I had a great night. However as an aspiring comedian myself there's not much in me at the moment that says I could have handled a crowd like that.

The Zumebar is a little club above a bar. It fits about 50 people at the most. All the best comedy is done in little rooms like this. However, the smaller the group the more delicate its dynamic. A couple of individuals can f#ck up a night. That's sort of what happened tonight as one bloke called Tim blundered out some halfwitted heckles while two groups of girls babbled away to each other at random points during the night in the corner of the room.

It's no exaggeration to say that the night started to descend into quite messy chaos. The acts fighting to be heard like maths teachers in my old high school. However it made for an interesting insight into how comedians deal with a tough crowd. Some of them made the night their own and others sort of let it screw things up for them.

One bloke who stood out a f#cking mile as a sincerely gifted comedian was Eddie Hoo. He's a genius. Like a funny Alexi Sayle, if you can imagine such a thing. Some great lines. I'll put money on him being mainstream soon. He's too funny not to be. He got on towards the end of the bill and managed to draw the room in to what he was doing but it was like watching a bull fighting the tide.

Then I went to the bar and missed the night getting truly ugly. According to my girlfriend and the two ladies we were sat next to what happened next was thus:

Apparently the act got on stage and struggled to get any attention for his material so invited one of the women at the back of the room onstage to teach him how to sing. Then when that didn't work out he sent her back. Then started to berrate a small group of people who were talking a little during his routine. He apparently climbed up onto the stage side bit and told them off for being working class. Then he was dragged off stage by the woman who helps to organise the night! Insane. All the while I was off getting a Guinness. Shame.

See, that's what I like about comedy. Unlike music or theatre there's always the chance that things will go badly wrong. There's a nice element of random and threat to it. It's exciting. The Zumebar is the best club I know for that sort of edgy thrill.

In short he's a TV presenter and an award winning radio presenter.
In long, he's worked on LBC, Kerrang Radio, Hallam FM and The Bay. And other places, for a bit.
The TV show he presented was called "Esoteria" and ran for two series on Controversial TV (Sky channel 200).
Currently he is, as they say in radio, between jobs.